Bad Luck
by psychohart
Summary: For once, Hermione Granger is satisfied with what fate has dealt her five years after she graduates from Hogwarts, she’s a successful lawyer working in one of the Wizarding world’s biggest companies and she loves her life. Until one day, a ghost from her
1. Chapter One

Bad Luck Chapter One 

A young woman strode purposefully down a busy street in the Central Wizarding District of London. She had a cup of coffee in her left hand that she was sipping occasionally and in her right hand she held a folder filled with important looking documents.

She looked to be in her early twenties and was dressed in a crisp, fitted suit jacket and a pair of beige tailored pants. She had long, wavy brown hair with subtle golden highlights and a sprinkle of freckles on her otherwise clear skin. She wasn't particularly pretty – instead her attractiveness was due to the air of self-confidence and independence that she radiated, which most of the young women of her age seemed to lack.

Her name was Hermione Granger.

She crossed a side street and then entered her office building through a revolving door. She smiled at the security wizard who was stationed in the lobby.

"Good morning, Frank." She greeted.

"Mornin' Ms. Granger!" He replied heartily.

She waved goodbye to him as she stepped into the elevator and the doors closed. She hummed to herself as she pressed the button for her floor and a cool female voice sounded in the elevator.

"You are now leaving the Lobby."

As the elevator rushed upwards at an amazing speed, the young woman flicked through her folder to check that it was all in order. She stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened for her and once again she heard the voice,

"You are now at the Legal Department, on the 72nd Floor. Enjoy your day."

A smile graced her features again as she entered the office, thinking to herself how lucky she was to even be here, working in this prestigious company. She absolutely loved her job as a lawyer and to be working as one in Macmillan International was a dream come true.

It was a company currently headed by Ernie Macmillan, her former schoolmate at Hogwarts and had been passed onto him by his father after he had graduated. When Hermione had finished her Wizarding law degree, Ernie had immediately offered her a job in the Legal Department at his esteemed company, which she accepted happily. She had realised that Law was the right career choice for her due to her work for S.P.E.W – fighting for justice for the House Elves and now she was being paid a handsome salary to do what she loved.

She was quite satisfied with her life at the moment – she owned a nice apartment, she still close to her best friends, Harry and Ron and she really enjoyed her job, which was quite uncommon in the modern society.

The only thing that was missing in her life was romance.

Hermione sighed.

She didn't like to think about it, and she frequently overworked herself to avoid facing the reality that she was alone in this world, in a sense. Her friends were always there for her but always teased her about being a workaholic – not that anything had changed since Hogwarts. She smiled at the thought of her best friends Harry and Ron, two of the best Aurors that the Ministry had ever seen and was looking forward to meeting up with them after work that night to catch up.

She thought that today was shaping up to be another enjoyable day as she offloaded her folder onto her sturdy mahogany desk and allowed herself a moment to gaze out of her window down into the bustling street below. She felt so accomplished, successful and satisfied with her position in the world.

Yes, apart from the lack of romance, life was good for Hermione Granger.

Unfortunately, her perfect life was just about to come crashing down around her.

Hermione was hard at work when her boss, Ernie Macmillan sent a flying memo down to her office. She was slightly puzzled since she and Ernie hardly had contact with each other unless there was a major legal issue to be dealt with or something really bad had happened. It was not the former, so that meant that something catastrophic must have happened to him or god forbid, to Macmillan International.

She accepted the memo rather apprehensively but it was too vague for her to work out why he had sent it in the first place.

_Hermione,_

_Please come up to my office ASAP. I need to discuss something with you. _

_Ernie. _

Within seconds, she was already in the elevator again and before the doors closed she got a glimpse of the rest of the Legal Department, all working diligently as though nothing was wrong. Hermione tried to calm herself down – after all, what could possibly be wrong with one of the Wizarding World's most powerful companies? Maybe she was just overreacting to Ernie's memo, perhaps he only wanted to discuss a trivial issue with her like what colour tie he should wear with his shirt or something…

The door opened at the 100th floor of the building and Hermione stepped out into the waiting area outside Ernie's office. A prim looking secretary sat behind a desk overflowing with paperwork and was filing documents when she entered.

"Oh, hello Ms. Granger. Mr. Macmillan said to let you in straight away – just knock and enter." The secretary said kindly, gesturing to the door.

Hermione smiled politely at her and then took a deep breath before rapping crisply on the door.

It opened almost immediately and a hassled looking Ernie appeared.

"Hermione! Excellent – I see that you got my memo. Do come in." He said pompously.

She obliged and stepped into his office, closing the door behind her.

"Good morning, Ernie. What did you want to discuss?" asked Hermione briskly, not wanting to be held in suspense any further over the matter.

"Ah. Perhaps you'd like to sit down before I say anything?" Ernie replied, motioning to the chair on the other side of the desk from him.

Hermione took a seat and then looked expectantly at her boss.

"Well?"

"Well…I don't know where to start." Ernie said nervously.

"The beginning would be a good place to start." Hermione responded sarcastically.

Ernie sighed.

"Okay, well over the weekend I received a letter from…an old acquaintance. It contained some sensitive content about our time at Hogwarts, my personal life since then and even about this company that I would not like the rest of the Wizarding World knowing about."

"I think I can see where this is going. You're being blackmailed and you want me to help get you out of this?" Hermione interrupted.

"Actually, you're only half right for once, Hermione." Ernie chuckled humorlessly.

She couldn't stop a scowl coming to her face at that comment and he took the hint, and continued on with the story.

"I _am _being blackmailed but that's not why I asked you to come up here today. The person who sent me that letter had a proposal for me – allow their company to take over Macmillan International and all the evidence that they had of my…personal affairs would be destroyed. I know that this may sound completely ridiculous, but I agreed to that offer."

"What!" Hermione exclaimed, "How could you do that, Ernie! Surely whatever was in that letter couldn't be worth what Macmillan International is worth to you and your family?"

"I absolutely cannot let the contents of that letter leak out to the public otherwise my reputation is irreparably damaged, Hermione. By allowing the blackmailer to take over this company, I am saving my own neck as well as all of my employees'. I'm doing it for the sake of the company and its not like I'm going to leave MacMillan International – I will just be sharing the power with someone else." Ernie explained.

"I still don't understand why you're telling me this if you don't need my advice on the matter. I was much better off not knowing the reason for the imminent takeover of the company." Said Hermione indignantly.

"Well the thing is that the blackmailer happens to be an old acquaintance of both of us. I thought that it would be best for you to find out his identity before the rest of the company did." Ernie replied softly.

And at that moment, as if on cue, the door opened and a man stood framed in the doorway.

The first thing that you noticed about him was that he was fairly tall and had a subtly toned body. The second thing that you noticed was his uncommonly pale skin and his distinctive facial features.

He had silvery blond hair that was no longer gelled back as it had been in his schoolboy days, but hung freely around his face now. His face had become more mature, but was still pointy (or chiseled, depending on your preference) and his trademark smirk was in place, as usual.

"Draco Malfoy." Hermione gasped in complete astonishment.

She hadn't seen him since their graduation from Hogwarts five years ago and to have him standing there now, barely a few meters away from her caused unbidden memories to come back to her.

"Oh, Granger. What a _pleasant_ surprise." He acknowledged icily in response.

"No…it can't be…" Hermione muttered to herself, looking pleadingly at Ernie for an explanation.

"Erm, yes. This is the new head of Macmillan International, Hermione. You do remember Draco Malfoy don't you? He was in Slyther-"

"That's quite enough, Macmillan. Granger obviously hasn't forgotten me in a hurry – there is no need for you to re-introduce us. Now if you'll excuse us, Macmillan, Granger and I need to have a little talk." Draco interrupted coolly.

Ernie attempted to glare at Draco but failed miserably – acknowledging that he was in no position to argue with the new head of the company. Hermione was slightly puzzled as to why Malfoy wanted to talk with her, but composed herself as well as she could.

"I'll just be waiting outside to talk things over with you later then, Malfoy." Ernie mumbled as he closed the door behind him.

Draco smirked as the door shut before turning his attention to the shocked young woman sitting before him. She hadn't changed much since Hogwarts – she'd matured physically but other than that, he could still see the feisty spirit that she had been known for at school. He was equally surprised to see her here but unlike her, he was enjoying every bit of tension that came with being in the same room as one of his former enemies after so long.

"W-what are you doing here!" Hermione burst out angrily.

"I am the new head of Macmillan International, Granger. I thought that was fairly obvious already." Draco replied smartly.

"Oh don't act so smug about it. Ernie told me how you blackmailed him into it." Hermione spat.

"Well blackmailing is only a means to an end. I was only trying to expand my business empire – nothing more." Draco answered calmly.

"Oh, so you weren't satisfied with your own company's performance so you're taking over Ernie's! Just because it's better than your stupid Malfoy Incorporated doesn't mean you have to come barging in to control it!" Hermione said shrilly.

"I wanted this company, Granger. Now, I have it – and nothing that you say can make me feel guilty about it or change the fact that I am now your boss." Draco's smirk broadened into a malevolent grin.

Hermione's eyes widened – as she hadn't really considered that he now had authority over her in the corporate environment.

"Well then, Malfoy - I quit. I would rather die than give you the chance to boss me around." She snapped at him fierily.

Draco arched his eyebrow at this response. He had expected her to be angry over the turning of tables but she was reacting more dramatically that he had thought she would. Then as he surveyed her thoughtfully, an idea began to form in his mind…

"Suit yourself, Granger. If you want to leave, then leave. Just don't expect any mercy when you come groveling back to me, regretting your decision." Draco drawled.

Hermione glared at him before saying,

"Don't stay up waiting for me to come back, Malfoy – because it's not going to happen! Good riddance!"

Then she stormed out of Ernie's former office, leaving a very amused Draco Malfoy behind.

**A/N:** Yay! Finally a new story! This story is different from my other two stories because I try to aim for a different setting each time for Hermione and Draco. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed that chapter and please review so I can see if I should bother continuing on with this story.

Thanks!

**psychohart**


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two 

Hermione was positively fuming as she angrily packed her things into a cardboard box in her office after storming out of Ernie/now-Malfoy's plush office on the 100th floor. She couldn't believe that he had the sheer nerveto just come waltzing into _her _perfect life after five blissful years of non-contact and force her out of the job that she loved.

Hot tears began form in her eyes and she hastily tried to stop them from falling and she murmured a hasty goodbye to her co-workers who gave her a bewildered stare as she hurried into the elevator. She wanted to say more to them…but the shock of her resignation hadn't really sunk in yet and plus, she was afraid that she would start sobbing and _that _was something she really didn't want her co-workers to remember her by.

She promised herself that she would come back to say a proper farewell to all of them once she had settled down…in a new job somewhere else.

As the elevator rushed downwards this time, Hermione cursed Malfoy with all the insults that she could come up with for doing this to her – _that_ _sneaky, conniving, ferret-faced, arrogant, insolent, intolerable, despicable, irritating…_

"Bastard!" She muttered under her breath as she stepped out of the elevator at the Lobby.

"What're you doing with all that stuff, Ms. Granger?" Asked Frank the security wizard, as he curiously observed her walking out.

"I've just resigned, Frank. So I guess I wont be seeing you around anymore." Hermione said blandly, feeling completely shocked at what she had done.

"But you love your job – what made you do it?" Frank pressed inquisitively.

"I'm unable to work with the new boss of the company." Sighed Hermione and with that, she said goodbye to Frank and Macmillan International for the last time for a while.

Hermione had plopped down on her couch in her apartment and was eating ice cream out of the tub as she silently contemplated all the consequences of her (uncharacteristically) rash actions.

Why oh, _why _had she let Malfoy get the better of her!

Now she was unemployed, humiliated and to top it all off, Malfoy had reappeared in her life.

When she had seen him in Ernie's office, a flurry of emotions had accosted her – ranging from surprise to curiosity to bitterness. They had behaved towards each other with a cold indifference, as former enemies should act. But she had expected so much more from him considering what had happened between them.

She hadn't seen him since they had graduated from Hogwarts, apart from the occasional photo in the Daily Prophet of him showing off his riches. They hadn't exactly parted on the best terms despite having to live together as they had been the Head Girl and Boy of the year but since it was expected of them to still hate each other because of Malfoy and Harry's mutual loathing, no one noticed the increased tension between them at the Graduation.

And that's why no one knew of her feelings for him during seventh year.

She blamed herself entirely for what happened – she had acted like such a _girl _over it. At first being forced to be in such close proximity to him annoyed her because he was a prat to her and always had been, but after awhile, she realised that he wasn't as horrible as he seemed. There had been moments that year when he had let his guard down around her and she had found that he was clever, witty and even charming at times. She was curious and she wanted to get to know the _real _Draco Malfoy, not the façade that he presented to the rest of the school.

Before the year ended, they had become friends in a sense – Malfoy had grudgingly realised that she was a decent person to talk to, even though she was a Mudblood and they would sometimes talk, especially when he had problems with his Father. Gradually, she developed feelings for him, like the naïve schoolgirl she was and she genuinely wanted to be the one to change Draco Malfoy – she wanted to make him see that he didn't have to follow the dark path that his Father had set out for him.

Now that she looked back on it, she couldn't help but cringe at how _foolish _she had been to think that it could ever work between them. But nevertheless, on the eve of their Graduation she finally plucked up the courage to tell him about her feelings for him but he had reacted in the worst way possible.

She could remember his exact words.

"_You can't be serious, Granger. I know we've come a long way this year but come on it would never work between us." _

She remembered arguing with him, asking him whether he had felt the chemistry between them too, determined to make him see what he could be if only he chose to use his intelligence and power for the better.

"You can't brainwash me, Granger. I respect you a lot more now than I did before but you can't change who I am. I'm different to you and Potter – I'm not a good person at all, despite what you want to believe. Just forget about me after tomorrow and I promise you that I wont bother you again after that."

He had promised her that he would stay out of her life that night and for five long years he had kept that promise…until now.

She had spent the whole summer after graduation moping quietly behind closed doors over him although when she was out with Harry and Ron she put on a happy face to keep up appearances. But on the inside, she was shattered by what Malfoy had done to her. She had honestly fallen for her former enemy and he had just thrown her feelings right back at her in that blunt way of his.

She had slowly gotten herself back together to do her Wizarding law degree and eventually work her way up to where she had been in Macmillan International and she liked to think that she had almost forgotten what had happened between her and Malfoy. She loved her life as it had been, just before it came crashing down on her.

All that she had worked for in the past five years had just disappeared in a flash when Malfoy came back into her life.

She sighed.

Life just wasn't fair.

That afternoon, Hermione met up with Ginny Weasley for a cup of coffee. She was still slightly shaken from the sudden reappearance of Malfoy in her life as well as the fact that she had lost the job that she adored, though Ginny wasn't to know the former.

"Oh, don't worry about it Mione. You're the smartest witch to graduate from Hogwarts for like a century – employers will be tripping over themselves to hire you!" Ginny reassured her kindly.

"I know, but what are the chances that I'll actually like the job? I was challenged by my job daily as a lawyer, but so far all the jobs that are available at the moment seem pretty boring to me." Hermione sighed.

She was reading the Daily Prophet and scanning the job vacancies section. It seemed hopeless. How was she going to get a new job that she actually wanted? Damn Malfoy. He seemed to bring bad luck into her life whenever he appeared.

"Well what are you looking for exactly, Hermione? Why don't you start with something that you're bound to get so you can earn some gold to get you back on your feet?" Ginny suggested.

"Yes but there's no way I can get a job that paid as much as Macmillan International did." Hermione said morosely.

Ginny gave her friend a sympathetic look and then scanned the Daily Prophet herself.

"Hey, what about this one?" She pointed to a large advertisement flashing on the page.

It read:

JOB VACANCY AT PRESTIGIOUS COMPANY SECRETARY POSITION AVAILABLE 

INTELLIGENT, HARDWORKING CANDIDATES WANTED – BUT NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN SECRETARIAL WORK NEEDED

VERY WELL PAID

Contact Mr. Rod Y. Colfam by owl to set up appointment. 

"Hm." Hermione responded, sipping her coffee.

"I know it's a big drop from being a lawyer, but secretarial work is easy and it looks like this company's willing to pay a lot for a smart witch like you to do a job like this." Ginny cajoled, "You could even work your way up the company ladder –once they find out that you've got a Wizarding law degree they'll probably transfer you to the Legal department there."

"I suppose…" Hermione said, still slightly worried about filing and organizing other people's things for the rest of her career.

"You've got nothing to lose, Hermione. Just set up an appointment with this guy and go for it." Ginny coaxed.

After considering it for a few moments, Hermione gave in.

"Fine. I'll go home and send a resume off to this Mr. Colfam with my owl Amber." She finished off her coffee and gave Ginny a hug.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Hermione! Hope you get the job!" Ginny grinned at her friend as she turned to go.

Hermione was back at her apartment and had attached her resume to her screech owl Amber that Macmillan International had given to her as a reward for her hard work. She couldn't stop herself smiling wryly at the irony that the same owl was now taking her resume to her new potential employer.

How suddenly everything had changed in her life. It was only this morning that she had arrived at work as usual and everything had been so wonderfully normal. Now it was mid-afternoon and she was jobless, upset and shaken by the turn of events.

How dare Malfoy do this to her? After all he had done to her that night and all throughout their seven years at Hogwarts – he didn't feel as though he had hurt her enough already?

He really didn't have a conscience.

She was an idiot for ever thinking that he was good on the inside because evidently he was every bit the evil bastard that everyone had thought he was. She had half a mind to go barging into the Macmillan International now and tell him exactly what she thought of him and demand her job back.

But she had too much pride to humiliate herself like that in front of him. She would pick up the pieces in her life like she had done that summer after graduation and remain strong, and find a new job somewhere else.

Somewhere better.

Somewhere Malfoy couldn't touch her.

Suddenly, she was jerked out of her thoughts by the return of her owl, with a prompt and succinct reply from Mr. Colfam.

_Dear Ms. Granger,_

_I would be pleased to meet you at Marple's Café in Diagon Alley in half an hour to assess your suitability to the job._

_I will be wearing a tan coloured suit. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Mr. R. Colfam_

Hermione raised her eyebrow at the unusualness of the meeting place. Why would her future employer want to interview her at a _café _instead of at his office? Perhaps this company wasn't so prestigious after all…

Nevertheless, Hermione decided to go to the job interview. Like Ginny said, she had nothing to lose. She was still in her suit from this morning and all she needed to do was wash her face and put on some fresh makeup and she was ready to go.

Half an hour later, she was at Marple's Café and scanning the crowd for a man in a tan coloured suit. It was fairly busy even at this hour and she couldn't seem to spot him.

Suddenly a voice breathed into her ear.

"You must be Ms. Granger."

She turned around to face the owner of the voice, feeling slightly put off by the invasion of her personal space by the person. It was a man in a tan coloured suit – her potential future employer.

She swallowed once before speaking.

"Yes I am. You must be Mr. Colfam." She replied politely.

"How observant you are, Ms. Granger. Now, follow me." The man replied shortly and led her to a reserved table inside.

She sat down and glanced at Mr. Colfam. He was a man in his late thirties with mousy brown hair and plain features. He didn't look like a bastard (unlike Malfoy, she thought to herself angrily) but he didn't look particularly nice either.

"I understand that you're interested in taking up a secretarial job at my company?" Mr. Colfam started off.

"That's correct. I haven't worked as a secretary before but the advertisement said that no previous experience was needed." Hermione replied quietly.

"Yes, so if you haven't had any previous experience, why do you think that you're suitable to the job?" asked Mr. Colfam not unkindly.

"I've actually got a Wizarding law degree and I've worked at Macmillan International as a lawyer for the past two years, so I've had experience, just not in secretarial work. I'm also a hard worker and reliable." Hermione answered formally.

"I see. What made you leave Macmillan International?" asked Mr. Colfam curiously.

The interview had been going fairly smoothly so far but now Hermione felt a lump form in her throat.

"I-I was unable to work under the new conditions that my employer had imposed on me." She said finally.

"Is that so?" Mr. Colfam gave her a strange glance before clapping his hands together.

"Well I think that I'd like you to come to my office tomorrow morning for a trial. I think you're more than qualified for the job but I'd like to see how you work in a position like this. Take this and follow the directions that'll appear on it tomorrow morning to find the office." He said, handing her a white business card.

"Thank you. Um, if you don't mind me asking – which company will I be working for?" Hermione asked apprehensively.

"That's for you to find out when you get to the office tomorrow. I'll be looking forward to seeing you bright and early! I think you'll be very satisfied with the job – especially the pay." He winked at her and then extended his hand out for a handshake, which Hermione accepted.

"Okay, well thank you very much for this opportunity, Mr. Colfam." Hermione said courteously as they parted ways. He nodded at her and then strode off in the opposite direction.

Hermione looked down at the blank card she had been given and wondered why he was being so secretive about it. But she pushed the niggling thought to back of her mind and tried to focus on the future. She needed to do well at the trial tomorrow – otherwise she would have really lost everything to Malfoy and she couldn't let him take away anything more than he already had.

**A/N: **Thank you guys so much for your positive feedback from Chapter One – I really appreciated it. Hope that you enjoyed the second chapter and review if you want to read more!

Thanks,

**psychohart**


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter 3 

The next morning, Hermione was up bright and early as Mr. Colfam had said and was now looking apprehensively at the blank card that he had given her yesterday. After the job interview she had gone to meet up with Ron and Harry as she had planned to and they had discussed her potential new job. They had been equally as intrigued as she had been by the card – no matter what spell they used on it, it refused to yield any sort of message. Ron and Harry had told her to be careful because they were worried that this was some sort of bogus job advertisement and this Mr. Colfam was going to abduct her if she followed the directions.

But Hermione had a feeling that it was pretty genuine and that Ron and Harry were just overreacting because their jobs as Aurors had made them more paranoid than ever about magical objects that were out of the ordinary.

So now, she was standing in front of her bedside table staring at the card when silver flowing script appeared on the previously blank surface.

_Go down to your ground floor. _

Hermione raised her eyebrows but grabbed her things nevertheless and set off downstairs. When she had reached it, the script on the card had changed.

_Turn left and keep walking until you reach the next corner._

She obliged and so she kept doing as the card led her towards her office. The route that it led her on was a very familiar one as it was the same one that she had taken when she worked at Macmillan International and she would probably go past it today on the way to her new office.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that the card had gone blank. With a sense of dread coming over her, she looked up at the name emblazoned on the plaque hanging outside the building.

Macmillan International 

Hermione let out a gasp.

It couldn't be.

She hastily took out her wand and prodded the now blank card several times, willing it to finish off its directions but nothing happened.

She was re-employed at Macmillan International! Malfoy was still her boss!

No! How was that even possible! Mr. Colfam had even asked her why she had left Macmillan International and yet he still wanted to hire her?

This was crazy. It just wasn't possible…

Hermione snuck a glance at Frank the security wizard who was inside the foyer as always, though he hadn't seen her yet, thank god. Was she prepared to go back inside and take up the job, even though it would be admitting defeat to Malfoy?

As she stood there contemplating all the options that she had to get out of this mess, a man brushed past her on his way into the building. He was walking briskly, wearing a tan coloured suit and…

Oh god. It was Mr. Colfam.

"Mr. Colfam! Mr. Colfam!" Hermione cried out, rushing after him.

The man seemed to take no notice of her and kept walking. She became frustrated and grabbed his arm when she caught up to him, making sure he couldn't walk away from her.

"Mr. Colfam!" She said.

"I'm sorry, miss. You've got the wrong person. I'm not Mr. Colfam, whoever he is." The man replied slightly apologetically, tugging his arm away from her grasp.

She searched his eyes looking for a hint that he was joking. But he was dead serious. He wasn't Mr. Colfam…except that he looked exactly the same as the man who had interviewed her yesterday afternoon.

Which meant that someone had lied to her.

Someone had taken Polyjuice Potion and assumed the role of this fictional Mr. Colfam.

Hermione was getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment at the situation that she had landed herself in. She strode purposefully towards the elevator, ignoring Frank and got in, pressing the 100th floor button.

She had some business to sort out with Draco Malfoy.

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was sitting comfortably in his office and taking in the wonderful view of Wizarding London below him. He was smirking as he saw Granger stop in front of the building and gaze in shock at where the card had led her.

Yes, everything was going according to plan.

She disappeared into the building and Draco twirled his wand as he waited for her to make her way up to his office.

Sure enough, about five minutes later, he heard the elevator doors open and imagined Granger stepping out of it, positively fuming. There was a crisp rap on his door, followed by a more vicious knocking when he didn't answer it straight away.

He sauntered over and then opened the door casually, his smirk still in place.

"Why hello, Granger. What are you doing back here? I thought you said that you had quit?" He said coolly.

"You know very well why I'm here, Malfoy." She spat back at him.

"Fine, come inside and we'll talk things over." He answered courteously, holding the open for her.

She sat herself down on one of the chairs and crossed her legs, as well as folding her arms across her chest. She was _very _angry.

Draco took a seat across from her and surveyed her carefully.

"Why did you do it, Malfoy?" She asked coldly.

"Do what?" He replied innocently.

"Stop pretending that you don't know! You placed an ad in the paper to lure me back to Macmillan International! You took Polyjuice Potion to make sure that I didn't recognize you and so that I would agree to work as a secretary for you! How dare you reduce me to this!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Whoa, Granger. I didn't realise that you would see through my elaborate plot so quickly." Draco responded with a small smile playing on his features.

"It doesn't take a genius to realise that you used an anagram of your name to fool me into thinking that it was someone else." She spat.

Draco laughed heartily at her scowling at him.

"This isn't funny, Malfoy! I already told you that I'm unwilling to work in the same building as you and I am most certainly not going to be _your _secretary!" She said.

"Well isn't that a shame because you already agreed to it yesterday." Draco replied with a smirk.

"That was because I didn't realise that you were trying to con me into working for you!" Hermione cried out shrilly.

"Unfortunately for you, Granger, when you shook hands with me yesterday afternoon that constituted the sealing of a magically binding contract." Draco answered.

There was a silence as Hermione absorbed this fact.

"B-But…that means I don't have a choice! I _have _to work for you!" She spluttered.

"Something along those lines." Draco answered nonchalantly.

"How dare you do this to me, Malfoy! After all that's happened between us, I thought that you would at least let me go with some dignity." Hermione murmured.

Draco gave her an amused glance before responding.

"So you think that I brought you back because I have a thing for you, Granger?" He drawled.

Hermione glared back at him, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible but on the inside she was annoyed because he had voiced her thoughts exactly. Even though she knew they couldn't possibly be true…

"No." She replied bluntly.

"Good. Because I don't. The only reason I want you here is because I don't want someone as smart as you working for the competition. Especially since you've probably got a grudge against me now." He added as an afterthought, flashing a cold smile at her.

"Relax, like I said before, the pay will be more than enough for you." He continued on when she didn't answer.

"What's it going to be then?" asked Hermione in spite of herself.

"The same that you were being paid as a lawyer for this company." Answered Draco.

Her eyes widened in surprised but she quickly composed herself before Malfoy could see how relieved she was. She pulled her eyes away from his stormy gray ones, not saying a word and instead focused on the photo of a young woman on his desk. He followed her gaze and then his smile widened.

"That's my girlfriend Gabrielle." He said, as the woman in the photo winked at him saucily.

"I figured." She answered dryly.

She hadn't been so naïve to think that Malfoy would still be unattached so long after graduation. He _was _the wealthiest young man in Britain after all and a good-looking one at that, it was inevitable that women would be attracted to him. She looked closer at the photo and then saw that she had strikingly blond hair, sparkling blue eyes…just like…

"Wait, Malfoy, is that Fleur Delacour's sister!" Hermione asked suddenly.

"I see that you're still observant, Granger." Draco answered.

She gaped at him.

"B-But she was like eight years old when we were in fourth year at the Triwizard Tournament…which means she's like six years younger than you. That's like the equivalent of a seventh year dating a first year! That's disgusting Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed shrilly as Draco looked at her coolly.

"I appreciate your concern, Granger. But let me assure you that Gabrielle is anything but immature." He smirked, eyes twinkling suggestively.

She rolled her eyes in response and instead turned around, planning to make her way out of the office. It seemed to her that this discussion was over – she was doomed to work for Malfoy as his personal secretary for as long as he wanted to torture her.

"Where are you going?" He asked, moving forward to catch her arm.

"Let go of me." She bit out.

"I am your boss now, and you don't walk away from me before I tell you to." He said firmly, turning her around to face him.

"I'm sorry, _Malfoy _but I'm not going to let you order me around. I'll do the damn work for you but don't expect me to suck up to you, because it's not going to happen." She seethed.

"Look, Granger, I think that its not too much to ask for you to respect me as your employer. Forget the past. Lets have a fresh start." He suggested, looking almost sincere.

Hermione smiled at him before wrenching her arm out of his strong grip.

"I've already moved on from the past, Malfoy. But that doesn't mean that I don't still hate you." She said quietly.

He looked at her, with an expression of confusion and frustration on his face for a moment before he covered it up with his usual bored expression.

"Fine. If that's the way it's going to be, Granger, how about I strike a deal with you?"

Hermione glanced at him skeptically.

"What type of deal?" She asked doubtfully.

"In return for your respect, I will only require you to work for me for the next six months. After that, you're free to leave if you wish however you must treat me as you would treat your boss if it was somebody else. Is that clear?" He explained.

"Crystal clear." She answered.

"So you agree to it?" Draco asked.

"Do I have a choice? If I want to leave this damn job, this is my only chance isn't it?" Hermione shot back.

"Glad that you and I understand each other perfectly." Draco responded frostily.

Then he extended his pale hand gracefully. Hermione glanced at it dubiously before hesitantly placing her own petite one in his and shaking it. He smirked at her.

She shook her head at him and then proceeded to walk out of his office, stopping in her tracks when she saw that the prim secretary from Ernie's days was still working away diligently at the desk outside. The woman hadn't been there on her way into Draco's office.

She whirled around in confusion to face Draco.

"You've still got a secretary!"

"Well observed Granger." He replied wryly.

"Are you going to fire her!" She demanded to know.

"Only if you insist." Draco answered, moving forward to tap the secretary on the shoulder.

She turned around and smiled at her boss and Hermione.

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy. Miss Granger! What a pleasant surprise it is to see you again!" She beamed. Hermione smiled nervously back at her, looking at Draco to see what he was going to do.

"Good morning to you too, Glenda. I'm afraid you've just been replaced." Draco said agreeably, as though he was telling her about the weather.

There was a silence as Glenda gaped at him in shock.

"I-I'm sorry…what do you mean, Mr. Malfoy?" She stammered.

"Miss Granger here has just agreed to take over your job." Draco said pleasantly, with his most charming smile.

Hermione sneaked a glance at Glenda and found that she was frightfully pale and trembling.

"B-but I don't understand…what have I done wrong, Mr. Malfoy! I didn't mean to offend you…please…" She stuttered pitifully.

Hermione looked at Draco with a pleading expression, silently asking him to stop torturing the poor woman.

"You haven't done anything wrong, Glenda. Its just that Miss Granger was so adamant about getting this job." Draco said apologetically, sending Hermione a stern look.

Hermione let out a shriek of irritation as Glenda turned to her in disbelief.

"Is this true Miss Granger? How could you! This job is my life! Weren't you satisfied with your high-powered lawyer job downstairs!" Glenda sobbed.

"No, Glenda! Its not like that at all, Malfoy's trying to justify his actions by shifting the blame onto me. You shouldn't be fired – it was his idea to replace you, not mine. Unfortunately, I've just agreed to a magical contract which bound me to accept this job…" Hermione explained gently.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you're stealing my job!" Glenda cried.

"No. I guess it doesn't." Hermione answered softly. She turned and glared at Draco pointedly.

"Well, I'm afraid that you'll need to leave immediately, Glenda. Miss Granger needs to get settled in." Draco said sweetly, making Hermione roll her eyes at his fakeness.

Glenda picked up her personal belongings and stepped out from the desk, leaving the chair out for Hermione. She strode to the elevator, with Hermione and Draco following her and her nose held high in the air although her eyes were still red and puffy from her cry.

The elevator doors opened and she turned around to face her replacement and her former boss with a sad expression on her face.

"Goodbye, Mr. Malfoy. It was a pleasure working with you, if only for a while." She said in a tight voice. Then she turned to Hermione, who waited apprehensively.

"Goodbye, Miss Granger. I-I can't completely blame you for this situation but I want you to know how much this has devastated me." She hiccupped and then stepped into the elevator, the doors closing to shield her from their view.

"Sorry Glenda." Hermione murmured.

"What are you sorry for, Granger? I'm the one that fired her." Draco sneered.

"Well unlike _someone, _I happen to have feelings and right now I'm feeling sorry for the poor woman. She didn't deserve what you did to her and you didn't have the right to lie to her about the situation!" Hermione exclaimed, firing up again at her new boss.

"You're just angry because she hates you now." Draco said snidely.

"No I'm angry because I'm stuck working for a bastard like you for the next six months." Hermione spat, glaring daggers at him.

"That's too bad. Life's tough, Granger – learn to deal with it." Draco drawled indifferently.

And with that, he sauntered back into his office, leaving a very annoyed Hermione Granger standing outside feeling helpless and entrapped within the cunning web he had weaved about her.

**A/N: **Thanks again for your positive feedback (my lovely reviewers!) and I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you want to read more because I'm still not sure whether or not to continue this story further.

Thanks!

psychohart


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four 

It was another busy night at the Leaky Cauldron and the rowdy bar patrons at the Leaky Cauldron barely noticed the famous Trio sitting at a table in a far corner all wearing glum expressions.

"Hermione, are you sure you can't get out of working for Malfoy?" asked Ron for the umpteenth time.

"Yes. I'm positive, Ron. I've been through every possibility…there's just no way out." Hermione sighed.

"Well, I don't know what to say, Mione. Maybe you could look on the bright side of all this. I mean now that you're working for Malfoy, why don't you find out some inside information about him for us." Harry suggested, taking a sip from his glass.

"You want me to spy on Malfoy?" Hermione repeated doubtfully.

"Why not? I think that it's the only useful thing that could come out of this situation." Ron said brightly.

"Yeah, and you know how long we've spent trying to dig up dirt on Malfoy himself being a Deatheater. If you could just try and keep an eye out for anything suspicious it would be a huge help." Harry added, turning his puppy dog eyes on her.

Hermione felt uncomfortable enough working for Malfoy given their past animosity and her past feelings for him. In her opinion, having the added burden of spying on her former enemy would probably drive her crazy in her new job but she couldn't let her friends down. She knew how much it would mean to them if they were the ones who finally exposed Malfoy for the Deatheater that he was but at the same time she didn't want to see him being thrown in Azkaban…

She sat there feeling torn between her two options but she softened when she saw the look on Harry's face. There really wasn't anything for her to lose if she did spy on him. She would lose Malfoy's trust but so what? It could only help her get over him once and for all.

"Fine, I'll do it."

Harry and Ron beamed at her happily.

"Excellent! We'll have Malfoy locked away in Azkaban where he belongs before you know it!" Ron exclaimed enthusiastically while Harry nodded his agreement but both of them didn't notice the look of apprehension that had suddenly graced Hermione's face.

Hermione woke up late the morning after drinking with Ron and Harry and turned up to work at Macmillan International looking flustered, as she had hurried all the way to the office for the fear of Malfoy getting angry and punishing her in some incredibly cruel way for her tardiness.

But her concern was unwarranted.

When she stepped out into the foyer of the 100th floor she saw that she was the only one there – Malfoy was late for work. So she set about smoothing down all the creases in the blue blouse that she hadn't had the time to iron and the sensible black pencil skirt that she had thrown on haphazardly when she woke up. She ran her fingers through her curly hair in an attempt to make it more presentable. While her hair now was tamer than it had been at Hogwarts it was still not the sleek mane that she wanted and she also didn't want Malfoy coming in and taunting her about her bushy hair again.

She had barely sat down at her desk for a few seconds when the elevator doors opened and someone stepped out. She had been expecting Malfoy of course, which is why she was surprised when she saw none other than his sidekick from Hogwarts – Blaise Zabini.

He hadn't changed much since Hogwarts, though now he was dressed in an immaculate navy blue suit which flattered his physique, under a matching robe and had even more of an air of superiority about him. At Hogwarts people had rarely noticed him even though he had been with Malfoy constantly throughout their seventh year probably because he wasn't quite as handsome as Malfoy (though _she_ had noticed him, she thought disgruntledly to herself). He was as tanned and olive as Malfoy was fair and pale and had inky black hair and bright green eyes – though he didn't resemble Harry in any sort of way. He was quiet, clever and very ambitious, which was why he and Malfoy had been such good friends.

Now he stood in front of her desk looking at her with a bemused expression on his face.

"Well I didn't expect to see you here, Granger. You're working for Draco?" He drawled.

Hermione forced herself to smile at Blaise.

"Yes, he offered me a job as his secretary and I…accepted." She responded carefully.

"It was that easy, huh? I thought that you would've put up more of a fight, Granger." Blaise pressed on, smirking at her.

"I tried my best to decline but he insisted." Hermione shot back.

Blaise gave her another smug disbelieving look before another voice interrupted their conversation.

"Now, now Granger, don't go telling lies about me behind my back." Malfoy said, coming out of the elevator to stand next to his friend.

"Good morning to you too, Malfoy. You're late." Hermione responded, ignoring his remark.

"Well fancy that, Blaise. My own secretary telling me off for being late." Malfoy smirked.

"Yeah how come you're working as a secretary now anyway, Granger? Weren't you doing a Wizarding law degree after Hogwarts?" Blaise asked pointedly.

"Why don't you ask your friend? Its his fault I'm sitting here working for him." Hermione answered acidly.

"My fault? Granger, for your information, you could've remained as a lawyer at Macmillan International had you not decided to resign. It was purely out of the goodness of my heart that I offered you this job as my personal secretary – so don't complain." Malfoy stated smoothly.

"The goodness of your heart! Oh come on Malfoy -" Hermione spluttered in response before Blaise cut her off.

"As charming as it is to see you two bickering, Draco and I have some important business to discuss. So please excuse us, Granger." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Hermione rolled her eyes at them both as they sauntered into Malfoy's office and shut the door. She shook her head in defeat.

How on earth was she going to live through another six months of this?

"So, _Malfoy_. You never told me that you had acquired such an interesting new secretary! Care to explain?" Blaise drawled as they made themselves comfortable in Draco's new plush office.

"It's a bit of a long story, _Zabini_. Are you sure you want to waste time talking about Granger?" Draco replied coolly.

Blaise responded by lying down on Draco's chaise lounge and placing his arms behind his head to cushion it. Then a slow smile spread across his face as he turned to face Draco.

"I have all the time in the world, Malfoy. This lounge thing is _very_ comfortable by the way. Do go on."

Draco rolled his eyes at his best friend. He could be an arrogant son of a bitch sometimes.

"Fine, fine. But please do me a favour, stop calling me by my last name – it reminds me of Granger too much." Draco snapped, shaking his head.

Blaise smirked and then nodded.

"Well, when I first took over Macmillan International, Granger was already working here as a lawyer. But when she found out that I was going to be her new boss, she quit on the spot." Draco explained.

"Feisty as usual." Blaise remarked.

"Exactly. But I didn't want to lose her as an employee I mean come on, she was the smartest witch in the grade. So, I concocted a plan to lure her back without her knowing, I must say now that I look back on it, it was quite an ingenious idea." Draco grinned.

"And what was this idea, Draco?"

"I placed an ad in the Daily Prophet and put a strong Enhancement Charm on the ad so that Granger would notice when she decided to look for a new job. Let me tell you, there were a hell of a lot of other applications for the job because the charm was so strong, but at least it worked on Granger."

"So how come she didn't know that you were the one who put the ad in the Prophet?" Blaise asked curiously.

"I used an anagram of my name and deliberately didn't mention the company she would be working for. Then when I went to interview her, I used Polyjuice to disguise myself. Aren't I clever, Blaise?" Draco finished triumphantly.

"Yes, you were very cunning, Draco." Blaise answered dryly.

"You don't sound too impressed though." Draco said slowly.

"I'm just wondering whether it's such a good idea to be working so closely with the girl who was absolutely infatuated with you in seventh year." Blaise commented sagely.

"Oh come on, Blaise. I've already set the record straight with Granger – I told her that I do _not _have feelings for her and that I have a gorgeous girlfriend. I think she's gotten the message." Draco defended, going to pour himself a glass of Firewhisky.

"I don't know, Draco. You know how office relationships go…the dashing boss and the sexy secretary…things happen when you're working late nights together…" Blaise wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Draco who almost choked on his Firewhisky.

"That is definitely _not _going to happen because there will be no late nights and it will be a strictly professional relationship. God, Blaise, how low do you think I am? While I agree that I fit the mould of the dashing boss, Granger certainly doesn't fit the role of the sexy secretary! Don't you remember her at Hogwarts? She had teeth to rival a beaver and that unruly mass of hair! It's hard to be attracted to someone who looks like _that_." Draco sniffed contemptuously.

Blaise raised his eyebrows.

"Right, Draco. I guess you're vehemently denying that anything will happen between you two because you're worried that something _will _happen." He responded smartly.

"W-What! No!" Draco spluttered.

"Shut up for a moment, mate and hear me out. I cant be the only one who's noticed how much Granger has changed since Hogwarts. I mean she's still the same fiery Mudblood that she was back then but looks wise…she's definitely changed for the better. I think you think that she's hot." Blaise chanced smugly.

"No! How could you even think that, Blaise? I have Gabrielle! I don't need Granger!" Draco denied angrily.

"We've known each other for more than a decade, Draco. You're more transparent than glass to me." Blaise replied.

"Ugh! You're insufferable, Blaise. Fine, I'll admit that Granger does look better than she did back at Hogwarts but that's because she's matured! Everyone matures! Also, just because I think that she looks better these days doesn't mean I think she's hot. Now, can you please talking about her? We need to discuss important business remember?" Draco exclaimed heatedly.

"Oh, no Draco. I think we've discussed enough important business for today – I need to get back to my office. I'll meet you tonight at the Manor for a nightcap. Until then…keep your manicured hands off Granger if you can." Blaise winked at his friend and Apparated before Draco could react.

Oh, he would get back at that cheeky bastard one day.

Draco drained the rest of his Firewhisky in one gulp before sitting back down in his leather chair. His friend had brought up a lot of interesting issues surrounding his decision to make Granger his personal secretary but they were all unwarranted…right? _Nothing _could possibly happen between them even with Granger's past feelings for him because hewas already seeing someone and he wasn't even mildly attracted to the Mudblood.

Blaise was just trying to scare him into firing Granger or something. He probably wants her for himself, Draco thought to himself amusedly.

He decided to push these uncomfortable thoughts out of his mind and then walked out of his office to delivers his first orders of the day to Granger. As he stepped out, he caught a quick glimpse of the woman herself stretching upwards to reach a file on top of one of the taller cupboards and couldn't resist giving her an once-over while her back was turned.

Blaise's words drifted into his thoughts making him jerk guiltily out of his momentary lapse in sensibility. Had he really just been checking Granger out!

He cleared his throat awkwardly and Granger turned around slightly startled, having not noticed that her boss had left his office.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" She asked warily.

"Er, I need you to go through these papers. Get them back to me by lunch." Draco said civilly, giving them to her.

As the papers were transferred, his hand brushed softly against hers, making him jolt and pull his hand back suddenly. Frustration and a hint of anger flashed across his face as he stared at the offending hand for a moment, wondering why he had felt so guilty touching Granger, even as lightly as he had. She gave him a strange look at his actions but accepted the papers without a word.

"Is that all, Malfoy?" She asked. There was a pause before Draco regained his composure and replied.

"Yeah. Oh and could you call me Mr. Malfoy? Malfoy is too nasty and informal for my liking. I am your boss after all." Draco said stiffly, his face masked once again.

Granger threw him a dirty look and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Only if you do the same for me, _Mr._ Malfoy." She said lowly.

"Fine, _Miss_ Granger." Draco answered tightly.

They shared one last tense look before Draco broke eye contact and strode briskly back to his office and shut her out once again, leaving Hermione to wonder about her boss' strange behaviour.

**A/N: **Ah! Finally another chapter finished! It was a hard chapter to write because I didn't know exactly what I wanted to happen and it also took a long time because I was completely drained from Christmas and New Year festivities, so here's a present to you all from me!

Happy New Year! (Please review! I need some feedback and perhaps some ideas on where you guys want this story to go)

psychohart


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five 

Hermione was startled to find that throughout the following weeks of her working as Malfoy's personal secretary that his sudden strange behaviour did not change. To her surprise, Malfoy did not continue to bait her or taunt her as he had done at first and instead he had abruptly turned their relationship to a frostily professional one.

Hermione supposed that she was grateful for that since that meant she didn't need to deal with residual feelings from their past (both good and bad feelings that is) but she was a little thrown off by his coolness towards her. It was as though he was trying to avoid facing her completely after pulling out all stops to get her to work as his personal secretary.

Hermione was mystified with this new, brisk Malfoy but still a little suspicious. Why was he being so icy? Was he afraid that she still liked him? Was he afraid she was going to blow up at him again?

If she had heard Blaise's conversation with him in his office on that first day of work, she would've understood Malfoy's distantness. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't heard it and was now wondering if she should confront Malfoy about his peculiar behaviour towards her. She just wasn't used to him being like this. Sometimes she even wished that he would sneer at her to make things feel more normal.

She shook her head at where her thoughts were going. She shouldn't be questioning Malfoy on his motives – after all they _were _benefiting her – she didn't have to put up with his snide comments anymore and she could concentrate on her job. But after spending so many years at Hogwarts with Malfoy she knew that something was not quite right with their relationship at this present moment and she impulsively wanted to do something about it.

Suddenly the elevator doors opened.

Speaking of the devil.

"Good morning, Miss Granger." Malfoy muttered as he strode out from the elevator, making a beeline for his office. He had barely even given her a glance as he had politely greeted her.

"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy." Hermione replied just as courteously, giving him a narrow look that he didn't notice as he walked past and shut the door.

She sighed.

This was just too weird.

---

Draco went straight to his desk and sat down in his plush leather chair. Turning the chair around, he looked out of the window at the busy scene below him, lost in his thoughts already. He had had a stressful few weeks, ever since Granger had become his secretary. At first he had thought it would be fun, having a personal secretary that he actually knew and who would react when he teased her. But Blaise had to go and ruin it by challenging him _not _to end up having one of those office affairs with her.

Even though he hadn't been formally 'challenged' by Blaise, he felt as though if something did happen between them, he would cop a lot of shit from his best friend.

Damn his pride.

Anyway, he wasn't keeping away from Granger because he was worried that _he _would start lusting after her (never mind that he had checked her out before) but rather because he was concerned that _Granger_ herselfmay still feel something for him. He knew it was arrogant of him to think of it in that way, but really, he didn't want some Mudblood from his past becoming infatuated with him again, especially now that he had a long-term girlfriend.

Draco glanced at the photo on his desk of the said girlfriend and smiled – yes, he would have to be a fool to fall for Granger instead of that gorgeous nymph, he assured himself.

----

Hermione was diligently working (as usual) when Malfoy suddenly came out from his office and politely said to her, "Miss Granger, I'll be having an early and extended lunch today."

She raised her eyebrow at his tone and decided in that moment that she had had enough of this.

"That's fine, Malfoy. You didn't need to inform me of that and I wouldn't have expected you to anyway." She responded evenly.

Malfoy pursed his lips.

"That's _Mr. _Malfoy to you." He pointed out.

"Look, I know we've agreed on this 'respect' thing but doesn't it feel completely unnatural to you, Malfoy? I don't feel comfortable with this façade of a professional relationship and I think we should just drop the act." Hermione said smoothly.

"Well then _Granger_, would you prefer that I insult you every moment of your working day? Because that's what you'll get if we drop the act." Malfoy answered just as smoothly and emphatically spitting her name out.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her boss and shook her head.

"Obviously I wouldn't prefer that either, but at least that's more real than this…farce. Can't we compromise?" She reasoned.

"Granger, I think that it's in everyone's best interests if we remained cold and civil towards each other. A compromise wouldn't work between us and our continuous bickering would disrupt our work, would it not?" Malfoy countered pointedly.

"Yes, but I really don't see the problem -" Hermione continued on before getting cut off by an impatient Malfoy.

"No Granger, you wouldn't see the problem would you?" He snapped at her suddenly.

Hermione was taken aback by his sudden reversion to his usual condescending self. It was the first thing that he had said to her in weeks with actual _feeling. _

He had lost control over the careful mask he had constructed these past few weeks and the physical difference was astounding. His stance had changed, his presence was more overwhelming than it had been a moment ago and his angular face wore the sneer she had seen many times before.

The tension between them had increased as well, but the tension that had been simmering before was due to the unfamiliarity of their civil relationship and it was now replaced by the familiar tension that only old enemies feel when they are together.

Now _this_ was how things were meant to be.

"Well Malfoy, since you seem to know the problem, why don't you enlighten me?" Hermione replied swiftly.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her in response and turned around to leave.

"Oh, yes, like turning your back on me is really going to do anything." She scoffed derisively.

Hermione saw his shoulders visibly stiffen and she expected him to explode into a rage when he turned around to face her. But to her surprise, he merely said in a low murmur:

"Do you really want to know what the problem is, Granger?"

She started to feel slightly suspicious at his tone, which was like a predatory cat stalking its prey. His sneer had turned into a smirk and his eyes were flashing with mirth, challenging her.

So she hesitated before nodding at him.

"Very well then. My friend Blaise Zabini believes that if I don't keep a distance from you emotionally, you'll end up becoming smitten with me again." He stated calmly, watching her reaction carefully. He was not disappointed by what he saw.

Hermione's eyes had widened and she looked completely livid at the assumption that _she _would fall for Malfoy again and that _she _wasn't able to control herself and her feelings and…

"How dare you bring that up now!" She exclaimed furiously.

"They were Blaise's thoughts, not mine, Granger. I'm just telling you what you wanted to know." He answered with a smirk.

Hermione was still mortified by Malfoy's answer to her question that she didn't hear him. He took advantage of her silence and pressed on, making her feel even worse.

"So really, Granger, _you _are the problem. Now do you see why we should stay coldly civil towards each other?" Malfoy finished off triumphantly, leaning against his doorframe with catlike grace, looking at her smugly.

That was the end of the tether for Hermione.

"You think you're so clever, making me feel humiliated for asking you about your strange behaviour." She spat.

Malfoy didn't move, not even a muscle as she stood up and started towards him. She continued to speak as she walked slowly, enunciating each word clearly despite her anger.

"Tell your smarmy little friend Zabini that he is sorely mistaken in presuming that I am foolish enough to be seduced by you and that he massively underestimates me if he doesn't think otherwise."

She had reached where he stood languidly, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"There is no need for us to keep up this act because I assure you, Malfoy, that whatever feelings I once had for you have been extinguished a _long _time ago and there is absolutely no chance in hell I would ever fall for you again, you bastard."

She was breathless from her defense of herself and was annoyed to find that Malfoy hadn't even flinched from her onslaught of words.

"Well, what do you say to _that, _Malfoy?" she taunted.

There was a pause before he answered her.

"I say, bravo, Granger."

Hermione icily acknowledged his compliment, but then his next words ruined the moment for her.

"But I don't believe you."

What!

"Oh come on, Malfoy! You know that I meant every single word that I just said, _especially_ the part about my feelings. The only emotion I have towards you at this moment is pure hatred." She cried out heatedly.

"Really?" He drawled, mockingly, "I feel the same way towards you, Granger."

"Good for you. Because I _despise _you, Draco Malfoy and I always will - for everything that you have ever done to me." She stated with conviction, her eyes burning with anger that she had kept bottled up since Hogwarts.

The look on Malfoy's face was impassive; he seemed unmoved by her declaration…almost as though he had expected it anyway. They were standing very close together, though their bodies were not touching and he could feel the fury radiating off her in waves. He glanced down at Hermione coolly and his lips curved into a dangerous smile.

"Well then, you won't mind proving the extent of your lack of infatuation towards me by coming shopping with me this afternoon, would you Granger?" He murmured.

There was a shocked silence as Hermione tried to gather her wits about her. _Shopping? _That was how Malfoy was going to punish her? She was completely confused by his antics and didn't know how to respond.

"Granger?" he prompted, challenging her once more.

She raised her eyes up to meet his stormy gray ones steadily. She wasn't going to back down from this test of her feelings. She was going to prove to him once and for all that she felt nothing but loathing towards him.

"I'd be delighted to join you." Hermione replied finally, her anger fading away into uncertainty.

What on earth was Malfoy up to? This was definitely not how she had expected him to react to her outburst. Especially as they had both just reminded each other of their mutual hatred.

"Excellent. I'll see you after work then." Said Draco, turning to head towards the elevator.

As she watched him strut haughtily away from her, his bizarre invitation still hanging in the air, she couldn't resist calling out after him.

"What are we shopping for?"

He turned around and smirked at her.

"That's for me to know and you to find out, Granger."

And with that, he was gone, leaving Hermione feeling completely apprehensive about what the afternoon would bring and with her curiosity piqued.

**A/N: **Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I last updated because I've been extremely busy. Sorry! I've also had writer's block, so this chapter still feels slightly off to me, but it's the best that I can do for now. Hope you all enjoyed it nevertheless. Please review!

Cheers,

_psychohart_


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